March, 2023 was our inaugural trip in our “new-to-us” RV. There’s not much difference between buying an old house or an old motor home. It may have been updated and renovated over the years, but there are still things that need correction or repair. After spending a couple weeks in Florida, we headed for Red Bay Alabama to get some updates done on the coach. This trip was different, thanks to a series of events I didn’t anticipate.
I’ve written extensively about Red Bay over the last 8 years, enough that a person might think that all the Red Bay tags mean the town is a hotbed of tourist activity–that is, in the way septuagenarian persons view hotbeds of activity. It’s not a hotbed of anything unless you own a Tiffin Motor coach like ours. In that case it’s not so much a hotbed as it is Mecca. That’s because there’s a guy for everything related to Tiffin motorhome repair in Red Bay. We’re there every year, with a long list of things to be done.
There were some modifications we needed to the cabinetry, especially in light of my mobility requirements. For this we needed to see our buddy Chris Berry to make the chances. Chris has done all our carpentry work for the last 8 years. We also had to get our room slides checked out and some parts replaced. For that we went to MSRV, a company we visit annually. They do all kinds of repairs, and we had a ceiling leak as well as some other touch ups to be done. A quick side trip to Bay Diesel for oil changes was the shortest stop. Finally, we had to get our coach detailed. No self-respecting street rodder goes about in a vehicle that isn’t shined up for maximum impact, so it was a given that we would get the coach cleaned up right the first time.
We know these people. They have patched us up, found scarce parts and otherwise consulted with us via phone when we had technical difficulties on the road for the last eight years. We’re on a first name basis with all of them, but I underestimated the kind of relationships we built over the years.
This is Nancy, manager of Safe-T-Plus. She’d been following our story. The coach we bought had one of their devices already installed, but the workers discovered it hadn’t been attached properly, and corrected it. Her waiting room became our command central point while we were in town. She plied Chase with about 400 lbs of cookies.
Here are Daniel and Carl, of MS RV. We spent a day with them while they repaired our ceiling and slide outs.
A big white truck, a building filled with sawdust and a lot strewn with pieces and parts of RV cabinetry meant we were at Chris Berry’s wood shop.
We had oil changes done at Bay Diesel. Chase especially liked their waiting area; the floor is nice and cool.
Our Last stop was at SaBrina’s RV Detailing. SaBrina and her crew scrubbed and waxed every inch of our motor home. SaBrina has built up her business over the years by sheer force of will, and she is a powerhouse. Chase fell in love with her immediately.
As we went from shop to shop, it became clear that people knew us on a level I didn’t expect. These folks see thousands of people come and go each year, so I figured we were blips on the radar while we were in town, but not before or after. At each place there were hugs and genuine expressions of care and concern. People went out of their way to help, to advise, and to let us know that we mattered. Chris took us to lunch at Swamp John’s, which has the absolute best catfish I’ve ever had.
As SaBrina’s crew was was finishing up, Chris stopped by to drop off the headboard he’d made for us. The three of us stood around to chat for a bit. “We all heard about you,” said Chris. “We all heard what happened to you and Ben, and we kept up with what was going on with you.” Chris gave me a hug–when you’ve been hugged by such a big guy, as they say, you stay hugged. “Stay safe, stay out of trouble,” he said. Then he was gone.
There was nothing left to do, so we got the poodle settled, took our seats and headed home. I took my turn behind the wheel to drive the rig–a big step forward for me. Not too bad for an old one-legged gal.
Onward!
Here are links to older stories I wrote about Red Bay.
RedDog on Wheels 
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